As exciting and interesting the experience I had in ECM, I was still
passionate about the law and so I was fortunate enough to have the
opportunity to still contribute to CIMB as their in-house counsel. I made
the move back to a legal role in 2009 after five years in ECM. My journey
throughout my career in the various roles definitely made me a much
better in-house counsel today. I believe that my advice is more balanced,
the legal solutions I offer are more commercial and I have a better
appreciation of the challenges that the business face. I could also share
my experiences with team members who are mostly from a pure legal
background so that they could also hopefully benefit from this
experience.
Based on my experience, the main skills that are important for a law
graduate to have are analytical skills, research and investigation skills and
communication skills. In addition, another skill not mentioned often
enough is the skill for responsiveness. Not being readily available as often
as possible may result in a failed case or a loss in a client. All these skills
are important even as one move to other fields or to more senior roles in
the legal field.
Whether one chooses to pursue a legal field or other fields upon
graduation from law school depends on the person’s passion and maybe
some self-reflection why he or she took up law in the first case. We
should not feel restricted by what we can do after graduation. We need
to merely supplement it with other courses we can take to add to our
skills for the role we wish to take. Having a legal background can only be a
plus. If unsure, my view is take the path of getting called to the bar first
and hence, arming oneself with the necessary qualification to practice law
and in the course of getting qualified, gain the experience of working in a
law firm. That allows one a chance to make a better informed decision as
well as not having to start from scratch if one should decide to return
back to the legal field.
In my view, there is no right or wrong choice once a person has gone
through the process of analyzing the options. What is important is that
one must love and be passionate in whatever one chooses to do and then
do it wholeheartedly and with integrity.
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